550 Squadron Photos

BQ-V / LL851

LL851 was shot down by a Messerschmitt over Belgium on 21/21 May 1944 on the operation to Duisburg. LL851 was one of three 550 Sqdn Lancasters lost on this operation. The aircraft crashed into a field owned by Albert Van Hoornick at Heimolen (Oost-Vlaanderen) between the Wever and Heimolenstraat some 3 km S of Sint Niklass, where all were buried in the town's communal cemetery.

P/O Peter Dukelow

The pictures below are courtesy of the family of P/O Peter Dukelow (Canada). The relatives of P/O Dukelow obtained copies of photos from a descendant of the Head of Police for St Niklaas showing their burial. The quality of the clandestine photos is poor, but they clearly show the Germans burying them with full military honours. In the past, the local townspeople have held regular memorial services to commemorate their passing.

St Niklaas Cemetery 1944

German forces burying the crew with full military honours

German forces burying the crew with full military honours

St Niklaas Cemetery, Burial

Pilot Peter James Dukelow, aged 21

Crew Graves

PJ Dukelow Graduation Certificate

Official correspondence confirming that PO Dukelow had been killed in action

The pictures below, also courtesy of the family of PO Peter Dukelow, were taken on the 50th anniversary of the crash and in 1981 on a visit
to the St Niklaas cemetery by family and friends.

St Niklaas graves: wreath laying on the 50th Anniversary of the plane crash

Closeup of Peter Dukelow's Grave

Crew Graves

PJ Dukelow Grave

St Niklaas Cemetery

James Dukelow and eye-witness to the plane crash

Link

Comment

The story of P/O Peter Dukelow (No.170280) has been recorded by his family and reproduced here with their permission.
The document describes his early life, and also provides facinating details about the training undertaken by Bomber Command crews in Canada and the USA.
Finally the document also contains details about the last fateful operation of the crew of BQ-V / LL851

These pictures, and copies of the various documents, can also be seen at the 550 Squadron Association Museum in North Killingholme.

Sgt Donald Sydney Bruty

The story of Sgt Donald Sydney Bruty, Flight Engineer 550 Squadron.
The document describes his family background, and also provides facinating details about his RAF Service, and the continued respect given to the
memory of Donald and the crew of LL851 by the people of Sint-Niklaas.
Source: William Albertyn (Sint-Niklaas) via Wilfred Burie

550 Squadron Commemorations in Sint Niklaas, Belgium

Rebecq Association Visit to Sint Niklaas

In August 2013 Wilfred Burie of the Rebecq Association visited the graves in St. Niklaas Cemetery to lay a 550 Association wreath. In addition he was able to talk with some local people and find the exact location of the crash and pay respects there too. Some photographs from the visit are shown below. Thanks to Wilfred Burie for making the photographs available.